Christmas Crops - - Cards - - Correspondence

- - last night was our Christmas Crop – yes I know it’s very early to celebrate the season – but if we didn’t have our meeting on our usual first Tuesday – we wouldn’t have one at all. December is a hectic month – many of us have children – with their attendant Nativities, Concerts and Parties – many of us work in schools – with all that brings in the way of Christmas Activities – so you see early December is perfect for our Christmas Crop!!

It was a wonderful evening –

mulled wine (a non alcoholic variety which is truly delicious!!) with mince pies,

a small buffet

a Secret Santa Swap of crafty goodies for each other

held our usual raffle,

Lynsey brought along her “shop”

swapped Christmas ATCs

took photographs & printed them out to scrap

- – not that many of us did LOL – too busy talking and laughing!

I had ordered some small custom made stamps as a surprise gift for our subscription members which was very successful – a great relief for Hayley& I (our idea!! - & as we are running things we thought it a good one) and we had 2 new ladies – who are going to join us on a regular basis I hope – so I think that made the whole evening a resounding success. I know I had a lot of fun.I even completed my page in my Christmas Journal - (about the only thing I did) but foolishly I have left it at home so can't scan my page to show yet. I will have to add the pics later.

It was icy cold this morning - and the roads quite treacherous with black ice everywhere - but oh what I wonderful sunrise - one of nature's gifts to me - (to make up for getting up in the dark to go to work?) beautiful skies - giving Gansey Bay a mystical shoreline, the sea a steely looking glass with scarcely a ripple visible - - gulls soaring high overhead - tiny black dots against the orange of the rising sun. I tried to capture it on camera - and failed totally. Maybe one day!

Now to consider my thoughts for page 3 - - Christmas Correspondence - very apt as a few ladies were making Christmas cards last night & our Christmas Stamps are illustrations from The Jolly Christmas Postman!!!

Do you write a Christmas letter to go with your cards when you send them?? - I have done since I moved away from the area where I grew up and lived for a large part of my life. Ooops - -I haven't started this year's yet - -however I do like to put my year down on paper - I don't hand write them - all done by word processing as they would not get done otherwise!! I need to get a move on as I have some cards which MUST go by Friday.

I love getting letters myself, so really should be a better correspondent than I am - - I love that my godmother always includes a letter with my birthday card & Christmas card - but I fear that letter writing is a dying art since I don't get many others -( I am just as guilty as the next person for not finding time to write letters - for someone who loves words as I do that is a shameful admission!!) Would Shimelle's report read "Must try harder" were she to write one??

I know many people now feel that Christmas cards are waste of money and prefer to make a charitable donation instead - I understand their sentiments, sometimes I feel guilty not doing the same - but for me writing my cards, including a letter - - is my gift to those friends & family I don't see from one year to the next - by writing a card I give them a little of my time, I think of them, wish I had phoned/seen them more often in the last year - - and always mean to do better in the New Year. I don't of course - - so - however hectic or frantic these season may get I will find the time to write my letter - and my cards - even if it means burning the midnight oil.